There are three kinds of people in the world. The first are the people who only go places with friends; these are often people who are afraid to be alone, lest they have to meet themselves and get to know…
Lying on my kitchen counter is an instrument that was produced by the hard work of over five million men and women. A marvel of international cooperation, its components come from dozens of countries. It is one of the most…
Hello Everybody, If you are one of those people who doesn’t venture out of the house out of fear of the heaven falling on you, don’t worry, you’ve got plenty of company. There have been people with such fears around…
This report of Partner’s trip to Panama was originally written in the winter of 2014. Please see the postscript for some updates. If you’re Jewish, chances are high that you’ve heard of Boca Raton. It’s a beautiful city of tidy…
One of the most dramatic thefts of the past thirty years was the decades-long attempt of Chinese manufacturers to steal the color white. You think white is easy, but white is actually extremely difficult to make, and is a multi-billion…
Ladies and Gentleman We’re going to do something a little bit different this week. I hope to write a children’s book soon, and I’m going to give you not just a sneak preview, but rather a very rough draft of…
About two months into the pandemic I started making herring. The chocolate chip cookies made me do it. I was giving classes all the time, to people who were isolated, and often sad and fearful. On a regular basis I…
She’s all of two and a half feet tall, much smaller than most of her peers. She lives a life of quiet solitude, passing her time in a small glass house, all by herself. But that’s not to say that…
A few years back, I had three teeth extracted. The dentist who did the pulling, cutting, drilling, cutting, and stitching was a fine man named Dr. Gregg Bobier. He has great chairside manner and a calming demeanor, but nonetheless, the…
Manju Das was quite possibly the richest housemaid in the world at one point, with close to two million dollars in her bank account. Today she lives in a hut, her body wracked in pain because she can’t afford any…